Rally GB: Ogier promises to take a ‘full risk’ approach to day two

Sebastien Ogier has promised to take a “full risk” approach to the second day of Rally GB, as he bids to keep his 2018 World Rally Championship title assault alive.

Ogier is currently sat fifth overall after Friday’s running and he made up three places through the afternoon’s repeated three stages in north Wales.

With his main title rivals Ott Tanak and Thierry Neuville running first and second, the M-Sport Ford star is well aware that he has improve his position through the stages in mid-Wales on Saturday.

Ahead of the start of Rally GB, Ogier had acknowledged that he needed to outscore his two main rivals to stay in contention for a sixth consecutive world title.

“It [was] not the best day,” he told Autosport at the end of Friday’s running.

“The gap we have is not what we wanted. I tried to push again in that last one, but the grip wasn’t always there.

“We are discussing with the engineers what we can do tomorrow, because there’s no point in us finishing fourth or fifth.

“We need to go full risk. I [will] really try hard – there was not so much we could do [today].”

Ogier has traditionally gone well on the mid-Wales stages, but with 38 seconds separating him from leader Tanak, he knows faces a difficult challenge.

“The stages [on Saturday] are quick and this is where the engine is counting,” he said.

“Sure, they are beautiful fast and flowing stages, but I think everybody knows them quite well. I hope our pace is better.”

Ogier is only 10-seconds behind Neuville’s second place, but the Hyundai driver has already pointed out that changes to stages including Dyfi and Gartheiniog have speeded the tests up, which will likely make it harder for any driver to pull back time.